How to Survive Highschool: Flock Style
by leave-me-bee
Summary: The flock is living with Dr. Martinez and Ella and are about to start attending high school.  But along with high school comes high school drama. Max is trying to figure out her feelings for Fang but she might just take too long… FAX and EGGY/NIGGY
1. How to Cave in

**First fanfic! Please review and tell me what you think (suggestions are appreciated) I will probably be doing mostly Max and Fang POV's but I might sneak in a little romance for Iggy as well, anyway, review!**

**~Thanks guys, ReadNWrite96~**

**SUMMARY- The flock is living with Dr. Martinez and Ella and are about to start attending high school. But along with high school comes high school drama. Max is trying to figure out her feelings for Fang but she might just take too long… FAX and EGGY/NIGGY (not quite sure) Max may be slightly OOC but don't be a hater. If you don't like it don't read it. **

**-Max, Fang, and Iggy are sophomores **

**-Ella is a freshmen**

**-Nudge is in sixth grade**

**-Gazzy is in fourth grade**

**-Angel is in first grade **

**I don't know if the ages are all the correct time from each other but oh well. I'll just go with that.**

**DISCLAIMER: The brilliant James Patterson owns Fang :'( and Maximum Ride _*sigh*_**

Chapter 1: Max POV

High school. Mom brought up the subject one night at dinner…

_*flashback*_

_We were enjoying homemade lasagna prepared by Iggy to give Mom the night off from cooking. Everyone was silently devouring the huge feast when Mom said,_

"_If you guys are going to be staying here long, do you plan on receiving any proper schooling? I could enroll you in Ella's high school. And there's a wonderful elementary school around here as well."_

"_Ohhhhhhh, Max!" squealed Nudge, "Can we? I really want to go to school. It'll be so much fun to be normal and I could have tons of friends and we could go shopping all the time…" she rambled on and on while I was thinking._

_High school? Normal? Maximum Ride? Those three things just don't mesh. However, I have to admit, we are going to have to get an education somehow…_

"_Nudge, you're rambling again" Iggy stated slightly annoyed knocking me out of my trance._

"_Oh! Sorry but Max, what do think?" Nudge asked._

"_Well… I… umm…" I nervously glanced over at Fang who was silently enjoying his dinner. He looked at me and nodded. Somehow with only that I gained all the confidence in the world._

"_Sure, why not." I said with a sigh. I wasn't sure if I was going to regret it or not._

"_Eeeeeppppp! I am so excited! OMG I have to go pick out my first day of school outfit! Angel, Nudge, you guys need to help me!" Nudge quickly got up from her seat and was halfway out of the dining room._

"_Hey! Nobody is leaving until they finish their dinner." I said in my motherly tone. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Fang smirking. You know the kind that would make me lose my balance if I wasn't sitting at the dinner table? Yeah, that's the one. Anyway, Nudge groaned but eagerly scarfed down the rest of her lasagna and raced Angel and Ella back upstairs and into Nudge's room._

_Mom grabbed their dishes and went into the kitchen to wash them._

"_Girls…." Iggy mumbled._

"_What's that supposed to mean?" I asked offended. He is such a typical boy. If it weren't for the wings…_

"_Who cares what you wear on the first day of school? It's just like any other day of school?" Gazzy said, clearly siding with Iggy on the matter._

"_Why don't you go ask Nudge. But if you do, prepare for a looonnnnngggg explanation."_

"_I'm good." Iggy said after a moment of thought._

_Fang stood up. "I'm gonna go upstairs, it was great Iggy."_

"_Thanks man" Iggy said before Fang silently left the room._

"_Yeah me too, G'night guys" I said after washing off my plate_

"_Night Max"_

_*End flashback*_

Now we pick up today. Iggy, Gazzy, and I were all watching TV in the living room waiting for Ella, Nudge, Angel, and Fang to come downstairs so we could (get this!) DRIVE, to school. Ironic, isn't it? That a group of flying children are restricted to a grounded car as their means of transportation.

My angry rant was stopped short when I saw Fang come into the living room. He looked so….normal, surprisingly. Just another guy going to school. But contrary to what he looked like (which was also extremely attractive in his black shirt, black jeans, and black vans. I of all people could see who he was when nobody was looking. Strong, protective, caring, just… wonderful…. NO, MAX JUST STOP. I scolded myself.

Things had been really awkward since I had kissed Fang on the beach and he had kissed me on the cliff. We had never talked about it because, I mean, I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE! But I don't regret it for some reason. I know I love him, but I love every member of the flock. What I don't know is if I like him as best friend or something more. I could never tell Fang this though. One disagreement, one argument could cause another split of the flock and I couldn't have that. After he had kissed me, I had continued as if nothing had happened, but with slightly less physical contact with Fang. He had tried to talk about it but being as clever as I am, I was able to get out of talking with him. I couldn't risk this. I was going to take some time to think this out but now, above all, KEEP THE FLOCK TOGETHER.

"Max, you okay?" Fang asked with a slight look of concern on his face.

"Yeah I'm fine, just nervous about school," I lied through me teeth.

"Uh huh" He said, obviously not satisfied with my answer. Dang! This boy could see right through my lies. But he didn't pry in further. He sat down next to me on the sofa and I felt my heart rate quicken. Ughhhh I was going to have to work this thing with him out as soon as I could.

Nudge, Angel, and Ella all came downstairs in cutesy outfits with perfectly coordinated accessories. I, on the other hand, was wearing gray jeans, a purple tank top, and a white jacket with my black converse. I would have preferred my favorite sweatshirt to the more form-fitting jacket but Nudge has insisted I, "not look like a slob on my very first day of the next 4 years of my life." How could I argue with that reason?

"Let's get in the car guys!" My mom called from the kitchen. "Oh wait!" She said running into the living room, "Picture time!"

"Mom…" I groaned

"Maximum Ride, I am your mother and I need to commemorate moments like these now get in the picture!"

I reluctantly scooted in the back row with Fang and Iggy and turned to face my mom.

Fang suddenly put his arm around me on my shoulders and scooted me closer to him. I could smell his shampoo and it made me smile in bliss.

Fang looked at me and smiled smugly. "You seem happy" I gave him a "back off" look and turned toward the camera and fake smiled.

FLASH!

"Ohhh! Cute!" said my mom. "Okay now 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7….uh oh"

"What's wrong Mom?" I asked confused

"I don't have enough room in the car for you all…"

"OH! I VOLUNTEER TO FLY" I said with maybe a little too much enthusiasm. But I didn't care, I was eager to get in the air.

"Well… I guess you can but you need to go with someone."

Oh god, now Fang's going to…

"I'll go with her Dr. Martinez" said Fang right on queue.

"Alright then it's settled. Let's go! In the car!"

They all left the room chattering about bombs and clothes. I'll let you ponder on who was talking about what.

"You aren't exactly acting like yourself today, are you?" Fang asked from the door where he already had is gorgeous black wings unfurled full length. Wow, I was kind of out of it today but I wasn't gonna let that show.

"Yeah. What are you waiting on slowpoke?" I said as I shot past him and soared into the sky. It felt great to be in the sky. Like I could just fly away from all the drama back home. But of course it had to catch up to me. Currently it was in the form of a tall, dark, and handsome bird-boy who was cruising up next to me. There was no escaping; I was going to have to face this.

**So there's chapter 1! Lemme know what you think! Any ideas? Suggestions? Just telling me you think it has potential is a huge confidence boost! If you like it, review! I will probably continue but I still wanna know if you like it so I can see what direction to take it. Thanks guys! Keep reading n writing! **

**~ReadNWrite96~**


	2. How to Keep Hormones in Check

**So I thought that I would just post the next chapter so I could put out a little larger sample of my writing. Anyway, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: The brilliant James Patterson owns Fang :'( and Maximum Ride _*sigh*_**

Chapter 2: Fang POV

I grinned as Max soared up into the sky. I took off after her and when I finally reached her altitude I started getting faster to catch up with her. Her beautiful brown and white splotched wings were beating musically in time with mine. God, she was gorgeous. Ughhh

I am never going to get over her. She is so confusing! But I can't hold that against her. I couldn't hold anything against her.

As I glided up next to her I noticed she looked deep in thought about something.

"Max, what's up?" I asked beginning to be concerned. She never talked to me about anything anymore.

"Nothing! Ugh Fang why do always assume something is wrong?" Whoa now. Didn't think that question was that hard but Max is Max and I would never change that.

"I don't. But right now I know that I'm right."

"I can't believe we are going to school," she confessed. This may be part of the problem but it wasn't all of it. I took the bait anyway.

"It'll be okay, it always turns out okay."

She seemed to take in my words but soon sighed and said, "I hope."

_Don't worry Max, _I thought inside my head,_ I will make sure it turns out right, even if I have to smash a few heads to make it right. _I guess it was a little gory, especially considering I am an emotionless rock (completely untrue) but, I wanted to help Max out. I wanted her to let me in, I wanted _her._

If only my bird-brained self could work up the guts to tell her that. Because, right now, I couldn't think about anything other than Max and I, me and Max, Max and Fang. Us…

I had tried to sort this out a hundred times before. She kissed me first on the beach. The day I tried to show her my feelings turned out to be a total bust. I kissed her and she look at me with a shocked expression for a moment before jumping off the cliff and soaring back to the house.

I'm no relationship-guru but it seems like a girl _jumping off a cliff _right after you kissed her is a rather extreme rejection. I remember how bad that hurt when she did that. I also remember how bad my knuckles hurt when I punched that tree after she left.

I thought it better to get out my emotions (gasp! Fang has emotions? I know, they just don't show. Well, I don't let them show) before returning home. After my one screw up I just have never known where we stood.

I was going to have to tell her my feelings and hope for the best soon or else I might explode.

"There it is." Max stated bluntly, pulling me out of my thoughtful trance.

"Yay," I replied, with my wicked sense of sarcasm shining through.

Max yielded a tiny grin, the kind where the corner of one side of her mouth turns up ever so slightly, I love that one. Heck, I love everytime Max smiles. It makes the sun shine just a little brighter.

Wow, I am getting WAY too soft. Being around four girls 24/7 does that to you, ya know? Anyway, we landed inconspicuously and met up with the rest of the flock. I already caught a bunch of guys checking Max out. That's the thing, she didn't need fancy clothes or 6-inch heels to catch any guy's eye. Max stood out on her own.

All the guys were eyeing her like a prey and it made my fist clench and stop in my tracks.

"Fang, you coming or would you rather stand in the parking lot all day?" Max asked walking up to me.

I looked at her for just a moment before I said, "You have already caught the eyes of every guy on campus, ya know?" Oh crap, I sounded totally jealous and protective. Note to Self: Learn to keep raging male hormones in check. But being Max, she just brushed off the jealous part.

Thats..." she paused as she looked around confirming my accusation, "interesting. Now come on, we have to get our schedules from the office."

She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the office building. After she let go I could still feel the tingle from where her hand had touched me. Ughh, was this normal? Did she even like me more than a brother? Should I be spending every second of the day thinging about Max?

_You can't help it. You're in loooovvvveee Fang!_

_Angel, you know, reading people's thoughts is WORSE than eavesdropping._

_You've said that before. But I'm trying to help you, give Max some time._

_Whatever, Angel, just leave me to my thoughts_

_Can do._

I hated the thought that my thoughts weren't always JUST MINE. Eventhough Angel was off somewhere life as a first grader, she managed to sneak into my head. But maybe I would listen to her. If Max needed time than I guess I would try to wait, but in the meantime, I would just relax and be my suave self. Eventhough on the inside I would be explode with curiosity for her to just tell me how she feels about me. And I would also have to keep and eye on all the scumbags who were probably going to be throwing thereselves at Max. Wow, Nudge was right, high school is drama, and it hasn't even begun.

**Thanks for reading! I know that I always skip the authors notes and that is reasonable considering all I will say is please READ & REVIEW. **

**~ReadnWrite96~**


	3. How to Be Friendly

**Alright so first off, I would like to thank **_**CrystleIceFire**_** for my first real review. Although my first reviewer was **_**Shayna-18,**_** her review solely consisted of, **_**"EGGY EGGY EGGY ELLAxIGGY ! all the wayyy!please !"**_** but that's fine because I'm glad that she took the time to read and review. Alright, this is for **_**CrystlelIceFire **_**and my first review. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: JP owns da characters. **

Chapter 3: Max POV: 

After dragging Fang across the parking lot and running to catch up with Iggy, we all went to the office to pick up our schedules. I saw a grumpy looking, wrinkled lady behind the desk. I put on my best smile and walked up to her. I have to admit, she kind of scared me, and I fought wolf-men in my spare time.

"Hello, we're new students and would like to pick up our schedules," I said in what I thought to be an innocent, kind voice.

"Name please," she grumbled.

"Maximum Martinez, Nicholas… uhhhh," I looked at Fang questioningly. Were we posing to be cousins and brothers but, did he have a different name altogether? But before Fang said anything, the lady spoke.

"Yes, yes I have you all here, you were all registered together a week ago. Maximum Martinez and James and Nicholas…. Ride?"

Fang decided that it was his turn to speak. "Yes, that's us."

Okay, you could say I was confused. No way was I sticking with Maximum _Martinez_! Ride is _my_ last name, I chose it myself. There was no way he and Iggy were going to go and hijack my name, no way at all.

I was knocked out of my mental ranting by a crisp manila envelope being shoved into my hands.

"Uhhhh, thanks." I barely got out.

The lady just grumbled in response. Fang, Iggy and I walked away from the desk and into the open waiting area. While the two started tearing into the envelopes I just stared at them, jaw slightly ajar. Fang glanced up at me and seeing my confusion, intelligently asked,

"What?"

"Are you kidding me? You two stole my last na-" I was cut off my Fang shushing me.

"Do you want the entire state of Virginia to know that we are faking this? Besides, don't blame Iggy too, it was my idea."

"Ride is _my_ last name, _Nick_," I sneered. "Maximum Martinez? It just doesn't work."

Initially, he looked taken aback by my immediate bitterness, but he collected himself quickly and responded, "Look, this was just the easiest way to set up this situation. Mrs. Martinez can still be your mom and Ella can still be your sister. It would be a lot easier for you to just switch last name to Martinez, than your entire family to switch to Ride"

"But-" he looked at me questioningly, but as I digested what he said, it was the most viable option. Then again, I didn't know why he wasn't a Martinez as well but I didn't object. It would be slightly less awkward if anybody caught me staring at him. If he was my brother, cue shudder, that would be all kinds of wrong.

Iggy cleared his throat, obviously feeling out of place in our argument.

"I've got bio first, how about you guys?"

I realized my schedule was still sealed in the envelope. As I was struggling with the surprisingly strong adhesive Fang said,

"Okay let's see… here is mine.

1. American History

2. Gym

3. English

4. Biology

Lunch

5. Spanish

6. Algebra II

7. …Guitar?"

Fang seemed confused by the fact that he was taking guitar. And as a matter of fact, I was as well. I guess we hadn't had much experience in the crazy world of high school, or school at all. Luckily our favorite blind bird boy was able to enlighten both of us.

"Umm, I'm pretty sure that all students get an elective, Dr. M must've just chosen random electives for all of us. Let's see… It looks like I'm taking, journalism. Ha, Dr. M probably thought that it would be a good outlet for my snarky comments and rude remarks," said Iggy.

Fang just nodded.

"Well I still haven't seen my schedule," I bluntly pointed out as I unfolded the thick wad of papers. "Okay so here we go…

1. Biology

2. Gym

3. English

4. Spanish

Lunch

5. American History

6. Algebra II

7. and my elective is… Photography!"

I could genuinely say that I was excited. Mom had chosen the perfect elective for me. I would have to thank her for that later.

"Max, we only have _two _classes together!" Iggy whined like a child

"Sorry Ig, I can't do anything about that. But if it's that big of a deal, you can take it up with her," I said as I motioned back to the scary lady who had given us our schedules.

"Ehh, I think I'll survive without you for the rest of the day… And let's see… with Fang, only _ONE CLASS?_ Does this mean that have to make friends? Like, normal friends? Great, just great"

I decided that I would interject now, "Hey! Maybe you have classes with Ella!"

He seemed to cheer up at the thought and said, "Alright, well let's get to class."

I looked over at Fang who had seemed a little anxious. "So we have Gym, English, and Algebra II together, right?" said Fang.

I glanced down at my schedule. "Yeah, I guess so. See you second period?"

"Yeah, okay," he replied. "Well I better get going, bye."

"Bye, c'mon Iggy, we don't want to be late to American History."

"Yeah, that would be a shame." And with that, we walked off towards our first class. "So Fang and I are… siblings?"

Oh, right. I had to remember to tell people he was Fang's brother. I also had to remember that my name was _not _Maximum Ride. "Yeah, gotta get used to that."

Iggy looked a tad perplexed, "I'm not sure people will quite buy that. What with us being _polar opposites_ and everything."

"Look," I said, "if worst comes to worst and serious suspicions arise about you two looking completely different, just throw out some crap like you dye your hair or something. You'd be surprised at how dim witted people can be."

Iggy sighed dramatically, "Yes, I do fear that the public education system is failing nowadays." He gasped, "First piece for Journalism, BOOYAH!" He fist pumped in the air at his success.

I just rolled my eyes, _what a ham._ We walked off toward our classroom.

So, I had watched movies, seen pictures, and let me just say, this classroom was completely… ordinary. There was a bunch of desks in rows and a long blackboard at the front. There was also a large desk in the corner piled high with History books and un –graded papers.

The middle-aged man at the front of the class turned to look at the two of us. He was a tubby thing. Rather short as well.

"Oh! Our new students! Class, this is Maximum Martinez and James Ride."

The students turned their heads to look at the new students. I could feel the guys' eyes scraping over my body, determining whether or not I was worth pursuing. I also saw the girls checking out Iggy. Some were even confused by the vacant look in his eyes but I think that they soon understood his situation.

"You two may take the empty table in the back of the class, thank you."

I just nodded and started walking toward the vacant table. I didn't even have to worry about Iggy, I knew that if his senses were sharp enough to roundhouse kick an Eraser in midair; he could navigate his way through a high school classroom.

As the class slowly lost interest in us, Mr. Murphy, the teacher, continued his lesson. I quickly tuned out, his monotonous voice and drab lecture only encouraging my daydreaming tendencies.

A kind looking girl with dark hair turned around and looked at me.

"Hi, I'm JJ. It's actually Jennifer Joy, but I mean, really Mom? I don't even think that could qualify as a name. Whoops, I'm babbling. I do that sometimes. So where did you guys move from?"

Oh, boy, here we go with the questioning, we hadn't straightened our stories out yet… This was going to be interesting.

"We're from…" I started oh so confidently.

"Jennifer! The blackboard is in this direction, thank you. You may socialize after class." Mr. Murphy said in a very cliché teacher-like way.

"Close one, huh?" Iggy whispered quietly, leaning toward me slightly.

"Yeah, we'll definitely have to get our stories straight after school today," replied.

The class seemed to fly by quickly and I was soon on my way to gym, my first class with Fang. I would have to be careful in this class. I can get a little… how should I put it, competitive? Yes, well I would have to watch myself or else I could end up whipping out my wings to catch a fly ball. Couldn't have that, could we?

I walked into the gym where the entire class was convening before class. It was not officially time to start yet so the students were mulling around, chatting. The girls were huddled in a circle on one side of the room and the boys on the other. I noticed Fang amid the guys, they seemed to have accepted him pretty easily. He looked at me and smiled. Some of the guys turned their heads to check me out. I scoffed, what pigs. Fang gently pushed out of the huddle and walked towards me. I heard the group of girls whispering and giggling.

"Hey, Max. How was American History?" he asked, seeming to be genuinely interested.

"Okay I guess, I kind of zoned out," I replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, same for me in Bio."

"But more importantly, we need to figure out our stories after class."

Fang just nodded.

"Class! Come get your uniforms! _NOW!_" Coach Clayton yelled. She was a small thing, her height seemed to be disproportionate to the rest of her body. Broad shoulders, very muscled, and with somewhat unsettling beady eyes. Classic gym teacher look.

Fang and I made our way over to a table where different sizes of school uniforms were laid out. The navy blue shorts and white shirts were neatly laid out. I heard some girl yell,

"Are these even _clean?_ They smell horrendously dirty. And what is this? 98% _polyester_?"

I let out a small chuckle and Fang smiled.

"You don't _really_ know what dirty is until you worn the same bloody tee-shirt for weeks on end, " I said truthfully.

Fang chuckled and agreed. We grabbed our uniforms and made our way to change.

After we all reconvened in the gym, Fang came to stand next to me. Coach Clayton began to review the rules of volleyball. The game seemed pretty simple, but then again, high school athletics would never be particularly _challenging_ to the flock or me. I noticed a guy out of the corner of my eye looking at me. I glanced that way and he smiled, I forced a smile back and he took this as an invitation to come over, though it was not my intention.

"Hi, I'm Sam. You're new here right?"

"Yeah, I'm Max," I said, only taking slight interest. He was pretty cute actually. Not gorgeous like Fang, but my relationship with him was kind of at a standstill and maybe somebody else would help me sort out my feelings. Or encourage Fang to actually _show_ some.

"Cool name," he said.

I smiled, "Thanks, most people just tell me that it's a boy's name." I paused, and then added, "Or a dog's."

He gave a low chuckled then said, "Nah, I like it," with strong conviction, and with a smile. I was surprised that he laughed and it actually felt nice to be ordinary. _Extra_ordinary may superficially seem amazing, but it can also be exhausting.

After my mental contemplation had concluded, I finally took notice of how Fang was standing rigid at my side. It made me a little agitated that he couldn't stand me socializing, and still treated me like a delicate china doll, but suppose I had to consider that his intentions were good. _*Sigh*_ Things were so much easier when it was just the flock. But I have to admit, it was a rush to experience high school, ironic considering it was a boring purgatory for the majority of the students.

Gym was pretty enjoyable. I didn't want to completely alienate Fang by talking with Sam so I tried to balance it out. We were all on the same team and we creamed the opposition easily.

I knew that my next class was English, another class with Fang. After changing into my regular clothes and stuffing my gym clothes into my backpack, I found Fang outside waiting for me to walk to English. Something like this would have been really sweet if there wasn't a pale girl with fiery red hair draped over him. After exchanging a few words I decided to make myself known. I cleared my throat and Fang looked over, he looked a little guilty. I don't know why, though. He could do whatever he wanted, he wasn't mine. Cue sigh.

He turned back to the unknown redhead and said, "Sorry Lissa, I've got to go to class."

She huffed and puffed out her bottom lip in an expression that I guessed was supposed to look cute.

"That's fine Nicky, I'll see you at lunch," she said then with a wink, she left.

"You seem to be making friends," I said with a looked of disgust no doubt etched on my face.

His eyes were downcast at first but after I said that, he looked up at me with a new fire in his eyes.

"I could say the same for you," he said obviously referring to my being friendly with Sam.

"Whatever, let's just get to class," I said as I quickly brushed past him.

"Max-" he started, but I stopped him.

"Fang seriously, we have got to go English." I paused then yelled, "Race you!" trying to lighten the mood.

He just smirked and ran towards me. I spun around and we went dashing down the halls toward English. I had seen it on my way to gym so I won.

"I win," I said sticking my tongue out.

"Real mature, Max. Besides, I had to follow you, I didn't know where it was," he said.

"Excuses, excuses," I replied.

He just shook his head, dismissing the argument because he knew I wouldn't give up.

"So stubborn," he said, a smile playing at his mouth. He turned me around, and, with both his hands on my shoulders led me through the doors. I felt my skin react to his touch. I don't remember that happening when Sam shook my hand…

We sat down at two desks right next to each other at the back of the class. The teacher wasn't really paying much attention since the bell hadn't rung yet and everyone was just chatting. I didn't fail to notice; however, the fact that all the girls' in the room had their hungry eyes staring at Fang. He didn't seem to take notice, just staring off into space. I sighed, pretty frustrated. It was amazing all the things he noticed and all the things he _didn't _notice.

_Be friendly, Ma_x. _You don't need to go making enemies out of the entire female population because of how they look at Fang._

I had been in high school for less than a day, and I was already morphing into the kind of dramatic, emotional teenaged girl that I used to make fun of. Fan-freaking-tastic.

**So, review please? I'm writing this as I go so plot suggestions and character development ideas are welcomed. Other than that, just saying you liked it would be huge incentive to write faster.**

**I honestly have no idea where this story is going, but that doesn't bother me. My opinion is that, even if I were to plan out this story chapter by chapter, an idea would come along (whether it be from a reviewer or myself) that I liked better and the plot would change. I think I am just going to go where this takes me. Thanks again **_**CrystalIceFire **_**for your review and I'll see you soon**

**P.S. Next chapter will be in Fang POV. I will probably be alternating between him and Max unless there is a significant enough reason not to.**

**Thanks,**

**ReadnWrite96**


	4. How to Adjust

**So… thanks to the other people who have encouraged me to keep writing. And **_**CrystleIceFire**_ – **sorry about the name thing, but I did go back and edit it. I don't want people trolling on you saying, "She did spell your name write!" And thank you for your suggestions and an actually beneficial review, not that I don't enjoy reading that people just genuinely like the story. ****I will try to update more often, despite my having clearly failed in the past… Here's chapter 4 in (as promised) Fang POV!**

**Disclaimer: All credit to JP for characters and such**

Chapter 4: Fang POV:

English class was a bore. I already knew that a sentence had to have a subject and a verb, and I was raised in a lab. It's just common sense, right? Apparently not.

Max didn't seem to like the class at all. When it comes to her, I'm always perceptive. It's just my nature to keep an eye out for her, even if she doesn't always like it. It's easy to tune everybody else out. The entire duration of the class she was fidgeting in her seat, her eyes darting around the room. She would send harsh glances to what seemed like everybody in the room, save the teacher. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was making her so uncomfortable.

After I diverted my attention from Max, I did start to notice that, quite often, girls were turning around to glance at me. Maybe they were hoping to catch my eye. Whatever it was, it was rather annoying. After a couple minutes of listening to the teach drone on whilst trying to ignore the girls' flirtatious glances, a girl actually tried to _talk_ to me.

She was in the same row as me, two desks down. This meant that she had to lean over Max's desk to get to me.

She had her elbow on Max's desk and her manicured hand on Max's notebook. Her significantly long, bright pink nails put Eraser claws to shame. She looked at me and said, in a whisper to not catch the attention of the teacher,

"Hello there, it's Nicholas, right?" The girl was pretty, but a little too fake for my taste. Too much makeup, ridiculous hair, and she smelt very pungently of artificial strawberries.

"Just Nick," I said plainly and a bit curtly. Max had a look of disgust on her face. Then she turned to the girl expectantly, thinking that she would withdraw to her desk. She didn't. The girl simply threw a sideways glance at Max, turned back to me, and continued with,

"Oh, well I just wanted to welcome you as a new student and say we're very glad to have you here. I'm –"

"Hi, my name's Max, I'm _also_ new here. Though I get the sense you're less excited to welcome me." Max said, cutting off the girl's introduction.

Max continued on, saying, "Just as an introduction, I enjoy reading, spending time with my family, and _PERSONAL SPACE_." Max said with authority in her tone. It was the voice she used when she was making someone do something. I knew that voice, I fell victim to it many times.

The girl just looked at Max, sneered, and returned to her seat with a huff.

I smiled and spoke quietly, discreetly leaning toward Max.

"Was that really necessary?"

She looked at me as if I was mental.

"Completely, I could have died from toxic perfume intake," she said matter-of-factly.

"Good point." I said, slouching back into my desk. Then I added with a smirk, "and we can't have that, can we?"

Max smiled. It was genuine.

The bell rang and I glanced down at my schedule. I had Spanish next and I'm pretty sure Max had Biology. Ooh, Spanish. I think Max had that later in the day. I couldn't wait to see how she handled learning a foreign language. Hmmm, maybe I would actually try to learn in Spanish class, and then I could tutor her a bit. There's an idea…. Girls love that kind of stuff, right?

Spanish was a little… weird to say the least. Then again, the whole concept of spending 8 hours trapped in a facility specifically dedicated to letting adults prove their higher intelligence over adolescents was weird to me as well. Maybe I will adjust. Then again, maybe I won't.

I walked into the cafeteria and saw Iggy, Max and Ella all sitting at a table. Ella had a couple of her friends there as well and they were all laughing and having fun. Looking at Max just relaxing and letting go was comforting to me. It made me want to try and adjust to high school.

I walked up to the table, about the sit in the vacant seat next to Max, when that little dweeb from gym class freaking swooped in! (Get it? Swooped? See, I have a sense of humor, even if it only consists of horrible bird puns) Anyway, he decided to take my seat and start chatting up Max. Of course, being myself, I put on my best stoic face, sucked it up, and sat _across_ from Max. And it's a good thing I have self-control. _A lot _of self-control. It's a good thing for _Sam_, that is. The whole freaking lunch period he was flirting, making her laugh, and he actually had the nerve to "casually" drape his arm over the back of her chair.

Dear god, this is hard.

By last period, I was utterly wiped. Constantly having my eye out for Max as well as dodging these random girls all day, would do that to you. There was one girl in particular. What was her name? Laura? Lissa? Lizard? I chuckled at the astonishing appropriate-ness of the latter. Not that it mattered to me anyway. But when I have to convince her once and for all that I am _not_ interested, I figure I should address her by name.

Turns out, guitar is pretty cool. I wouldn't mind finding something that I could do with my time… My teacher said I could use his acoustic guitar to practice on because I was the only person without one. And I don't know, this just felt like something that could… stick.

I checked my watch as I waited outside the school entrance doors. 3:10. Max is _really_ running late today. Iggy and Ella left 10 minutes ago in the car and I had seen almost every student eventually trickle out of the school.

Finally, almost 10 minutes later, Max emerged from the school.

"What have you been up to?" I asked.

"Just staying after in photography," Max said.

"Has Max found a new hobby?"

"Well it doesn't beat flying by any stretch, but I do really enjoy it," she said thoughtfully.

Wow. She really does like this. Her first day and she's already hooked. I can't wait to see what she turns out, I'm sure it'll be amazing. There's no way it couldn't be amazing.

"So… Am I going to see anything you have been working on?"

"No, probably not for a while." She said looking a little self-conscious. It was not a look I often saw on her.

Dang, shot down. I can understand that, though. It would probably be a while before I would even reveal to the rest of my family that I could even pluck at a guitar.

I nodded, still in thought.

"We better get going. I – I mean _WE _have _a lot_ to talk about with my mom. Let's go." With that, Max sprinted towards the cover of the trees, eager to fly home.

**All right, guys, thanks for reading! I know it's short but I am just getting back into the swing of writing and am still figuring out what direction I want to take with the story. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon. **

**Until later,**

**Grace**


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